A soldier who works guarding The Queen has told of his ”disgust” after he was refused entry to a bar because he was a member of the armed forces.
Trooper Jack Little, 19, of the Household Cavalry Blues and Royals, protects the royal family, politicians and foreign leaders at Horse Guards Parade, London.
He also proudly serves in the same regiment as Prince Harry and is currently in combat training for deployment to fight in Afghanistan.
But Jack was left ”shocked” after he queued for one-and-a-half hours to enter Vodka Revolution in Cambridge and was refused entry when bouncers spotted his Army ID.
Over-zealous doorstaff told Jack the pub chain has a policy of refusing entry to members of the armed services because they cause too much ”trouble”.
Yesterday the teenager, from Saffron Waldon, Essex, told how serving in the Army has been his life-long ambition, and described his treatment as ”outrageous”.
He said: ”I was on leave with some friends from school and we queued for an hour and half to get in. It wasn’t like I was out with a bunch of squaddies.
”The bouncer saw my Army ID card in my wallet and and told me it was their policy not to let me in because I was with the Armed Forces.
”I argued and spoke to the manager who agreed that I wouldn’t cause trouble, but the bouncer said it was company policy.
”They said they had had trouble with people from the forces before. I think its outrageous that they treated me like this and I will not be going back there.
”I was shocked they wouldn’t let me in and so were my friends. It was the first place we had been to.
”I’ve always wanted to be in the Army and a lot of my family have served in the forces. I am very proud of what I do and never encountered this before.”
Jack was refused entry to the bar at 10.30pm on Thursday April 28 as he went on a night out with school friends just one day before the Royal Wedding.
Two of his pals who paid £5 entry rejoined him on the pavement outside without getting a refund and the group moved on to other pubs in the city.
Jack joined the army two years ago when he left school and was proudly accepted by the Household Cavalry – the oldest regiment in Britain.
He has been performing ceremonial duties at Horse Guards Parade including Trooping the Colour and the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Six months ago he began training and combat duty in Windsor ahead of his regiment’s planned deployment in Afghanistan in 2013.
Ian Collins, regional manager of Vodka Revolution, has denied the nationwide chain has a policy of refusing entry to serviceman and women.
He said: ”I cannot comment on this specific case but I can confirm that Vodka Revolution does not have any policy to refuse entry to members of the Armed Forces.”
Jack’s friend Tom Parkin said: ”I find it disgraceful that they are generalising and discriminating against hundreds of thousands of people.
”They would not be allowed to do this with people of certain races or religion so why can they do it because of their job.”
